Notable statistics
A few months ago, most fans thought that the Arsenal - Man City match would likely decide the Premier League title, season 2024-2025.
However, the serious knee injury Rodri suffered in the return leg between the two teams in September 2024 was a turning point in Man City's season.
After that 2-2 draw, Man City had a period of decline when Rodri did not play, making their hopes of defending the title almost gone. At this time, the most practical goal for Guardiola and his team is to win a ticket to the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are chasing Liverpool in the championship race. To compete for the championship with Liverpool (9 points ahead), Arsenal need to avoid more mistakes.
Arteta's side fought back to win 1-0 at Wolves last week, despite Myles Lewis-Skelly being sent off late in the first half. Since Arteta took charge, Arsenal have received more red cards than any other team in the Premier League (19).
Arsenal are now unbeaten in 13 Premier League games (W8 D5). The Gunners have never gone longer unbeaten under Arteta, with the last being a 14-game unbeaten run between August and December 2018, under Unai Emery.
Arsenal lacked attacking flair with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus sidelined through injury, but their use of set-pieces helped them immensely.
With 12 goals from set-pieces (including two own goals), Arsenal lead the Premier League in this metric.
However, Man City have only conceded two goals from set pieces, the fewest in the league along with Brentford. One of those goals was a header from Gabriel Magalhaes in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
In addition to the long-term absentees Jesus and Saka, Arsenal remain without right-back Ben White. However, Martin Odegaard is available after being sidelined with illness last weekend.
Man City are in good form in the Premier League, unbeaten in their last 6 matches (W4 D2). They have won 14 points, scoring 18 goals during this period.
Guardiola's side have lost just one of their last 40 Premier League games, played from January to the end of the season (W33 D6). That was a 1-0 defeat to Brentford at the end of the 2022-23 season when the title had already been decided.
In the last 23 matches from January to the end of the season, Man City were unbeaten, scoring 66 goals, an average of 2.9 goals/match.
In the previous round, Man City came from behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 with goals from Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol. Haaland has scored 5 goals in his last 5 matches, 2 more than in his previous 13 matches.
Foden, meanwhile, has finally found form after a slow start to the campaign, scoring six goals since January 2025, making him the top scorer in the league.
Head to head record
In the first leg of this season, Man City drew 2-2 at home to Arsenal, in a match in which Leandro Trossard received a red card. Last season, Arsenal beat Man City 1-0 at home. The last time the Gunners beat Man City consecutively at home in the Premier League was from the 2005-2006 season to the 2008-2009 season (4 consecutive matches).
After winning 12 consecutive games against Arsenal between 2017 and 2023, Man City are now winless in their last 3 games against the Gunners (D2 L1).
Arsenal vs Man City match takes place at 23:30 on February 2.
